Valley softball enjoying continued renaissance

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 | 6:53 PM

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Morgan Dunkel was ready to take the ball, toe the rubber in the pitching circle and have a breakout freshman season for the Valley softball team.

But the early stages of the growing covid pandemic snuffed out the 2020 spring campaign.

“It was difficult. I was looking forward to the season,” Dunkel said.

“Coach was working hard with us to get us ready. Then we got the call that we wouldn’t have a season. But we just had to move past it and rededicate ourselves to winning. We ended up doing really well last season and even better this season.”

With Dunkel helping lead the way for Valley in the circle and at the plate as a sophomore — she pitched the Vikings to a 5-5 mark in Section 1-3A and led the team in batting (.513), runs batted in (18) and home runs (five) — the team earned a spot in the WPIAL playoffs last season for the first time since 2012.

She is again a part of a productive Valley lineup which has a 9-4 record through a 19-1, five-inning victory over Shady Side Academy in the Section 1 finale Monday afternoon.

Valley has two games left in the regular season: Thursday at Obama and Tuesday at Chartiers-Houston. The softball playoff pairings are to be released next Thursday.

“The girls have worked so hard since the beginning of the season, and they’ve improved so much,” veteran Valley coach Carrol Perroz said.

“With the playoffs, everybody has a clean slate, and it’s one-and-done. You want to continue to grow off of what you’ve done all season. You have to play your best and leave it all out there, and these girls are willing to do that.”

The Vikings finished 6-2 in section play with its only two losses coming against undefeated section champion Deer Lakes. Valley scored a section sweep against North Catholic, last year’s section champion, with wins of 10-7 and 3-2.

“Teamwork and communication has been the key,” said Dunkel, who said though she has found success again this year, it’s a team-wide effort. Fellow captains juniors Leah Taliani and Haley Demharter help move the needle in the right direction.

“We had a couple new players come in, and they fit in nicely with everyone who returned. The bats are working really well. We’re hitting with power. We worked a lot on our hitting, so I knew we had some power in our bats. And the defense has improved so much. I like where this team is right now. We got a taste of the playoffs last year, and we want more this year.”

In the first meeting with North Catholic on April 8, the Vikings trailed 5-0 after the first inning and rallied to tie the score in the top of the fourth. When the Trojans took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth, Valley rallied again with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

“That game really showed what this team is made of as we are not going to give up on any game,” Taliani said.

“We’re going to keep fighting for each other. Deer Lakes is a powerhouse, and we battled them tough, especially in the second game. If we play our best game, I think we can do some big things in the playoffs.”

Freshman first baseman Gabby Campana-Chambers helped the cause in the first game with North Catholic with her first varsity home run, and veteran coach Carrol Perroz said she has really grown with more and more game experience.

“Freshmen coming in and producing, that’s something you don’t always count on, but she’s been able to contribute and contribute a lot,” Perroz said.

Perroz said sophomore Jessica Staraniec has solidified the catcher position since moving in from the outfield.

“She was thrown into it and has done a fantastic job,” Perroz said. “There were some mistakes early on, but she’s been tested by fire and she’s answered the call.”

Dunkel, who leads the team with a .471 average and 28 RBIs, said she appreciated a number of competitive section games this season, including a key 12-8 victory over Derry on April 22.

She finished the game with five RBIs and hit a grand slam. It was her first game since her grandmother, Patricia, passed away five days earlier on Easter Sunday.

“That (grand slam) was definitely for my grandmother. It felt really good,” said Dunkel, who has a team-best four home runs this season.

“She really supported me and was at all my games. I know she still is there. My teammates were a big support. They did whatever they could to put a smile on my face during a pretty emotional time.”

Perroz said a pair of nonsection games — with Class 4A Highlands, a WPIAL finalist and PIAA semifinalist last year, and Class 5A Kiski Area — were beneficial despite the losses.

“It was great because we got to see that caliber of ball,” Perroz said. “The girls wanted to compete against that. I know we lost both games (11-3 to Highlands and 4-0 to Kiski), but they were eye-openers, and we got to see some stuff that will help us prepare for the playoffs.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Valley